The Second Book of Moses: Exodus

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- Chapter 7 -

Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Listen to me. I will cause the king to see you as a god, and Aaron will be like a prophet because he will speak for you.

You must tell everything I command you to your older brother Aaron, and he will tell it all to the king. He must tell the king to let the Israelite people leave his land.

But I will make the king stubborn. Because of this, even though I will do many kinds of miracles here in Egypt,

the king will not believe what you say. Then I will punish the people of Egypt very severely, and I will lead the tribes of my Israelite people out of Egypt.

Then, when I show my great power to the Egyptian people and bring the Israelite people out from among them, they will know that I am Yahweh, the all powerful God.”

Aaron and Moses did everything that Yahweh told them to do.

At that time, Moses was 80 years old, and Aaron was 83 years old.

Aaron’s Staff

Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron,

“If the king says to you, ‘Show me that God sent you by performing a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Throw your staff down in front of the king in order that it may become a snake.’”

So Aaron and Moses went to the king and did what Yahweh told them to do. Aaron threw his staff down in front of the king and his officials, and it became a snake.

Then the king called his sorcerers and men who did magic. They did the same thing, using their magic.

They all threw down their staffs, and the staffs became snakes. But Aaron’s staff, which had become a snake, swallowed up all their snakes!

But the king continued to be stubborn, just as Yahweh had said he would, and he would not believe what Aaron and Moses said.

The First Plague: Blood

Then Yahweh said to Moses, “The king is very stubborn. He refuses to allow my people to go.

So tomorrow morning, go to him as he is going down to the Nile River to bathe. Wait for him on the riverbank. When he comes out of the water, show him the staff, the one that had become a snake.

Say to him, ’Yahweh God, the one we Hebrews worship, sent me to you to tell you to let my people go in order that they may worship him in the desert. We told you that, but you have not listened to us.

So now Yahweh says this: “This is the way you will know that I am Yahweh, the all powerful God. I am going to strike the water that is in the Nile River with the staff that is in my hand. When I do that, the water will become blood.

Then the fish in the Nile River will die, and the water in the river will smell bad. The Egyptians will not be able to drink water from the river.””’

Yahweh said to Moses, “When you are talking to the king, say to Aaron, ‘Hold your staff out as though you were holding it over all the water in Egypt, over the rivers, the canals, the ponds, and over the pools of water, in order that all of it may become blood.’ When Aaron does that, there will be blood throughout Egypt, even in wooden jars and in stone jars.”

So Aaron and Moses did what Yahweh told them to do. As the king and his officials were watching, Aaron lifted up his staff and then struck the water in the Nile River with it. All the water in the river turned to blood.

Then all the fish died. The water smelled bad, with the result that the Egyptians could not drink water from the river. Everywhere in Egypt the water became red like blood.

But the Egyptian men who did magic did the same thing using their magic. So the king remained stubborn, and he would not listen to what Aaron and Moses said, just as Yahweh said would happen.

Then the king turned and went back to his palace, and he did not think any more about it.

All the Egyptians dug into the ground near the Nile River to get water to drink because they could not drink the water from the river.

Then one week passed after Yahweh turned the water in the Nile River into blood.

The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.

You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.

I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

But Pharaoh will not listen to you, so I will lay my hand on Egypt, and bring out my armies, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.

The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand on Egypt, and bring the children of Israel out from among them.”

Moses and Aaron did so. As the LORD commanded them, so they did.

Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Staff

The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Perform a miracle!’ then you shall tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.’”

Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as the LORD had commanded. Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same thing with their enchantments.

For they each cast down their rods, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as the LORD had spoken.

The First Plague: Blood

The LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go.

Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he is going out to the water. You shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. You shall take the rod which was turned to a serpent in your hand.

You shall tell him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. Behold, until now you haven’t listened.”

The LORD says, “In this you shall know that I am the LORD. Behold: I will strike with the rod that is in my hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.

The fish that are in the river will die and the river will become foul. The Egyptians will loathe to drink water from the river.”’”

The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood. There will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

The fish that were in the river died. The river became foul. The Egyptians couldn’t drink water from the river. The blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.

The magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their enchantments. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as the LORD had spoken.

Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he didn’t even take this to heart.

All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink; for they couldn’t drink the river water.

Seven days were fulfilled, after the LORD had struck the river.